Liverpool v Real Madrid: 'Ultimate professional' Mohamed Salah not distracted by potential Anfield exit

Liverpool manager Arne Slot insisted that Mohamed Salah has shown no signs of being distracted by his potential exit from the club next summer.

After Sunday's win at Southampton, which took Liverpool eight points clear at the top of the Premier League, Salah told reporters that he was disappointed that he had yet to receive an offer from the club for a new contract.

The 32-year-old Egyptian's deal runs out at the end of this season, which would mean Salah can leave on a free transfer, and he admitted that he now felt “more out than in” at the club he joined from Roma in 2017.

Despite the end of his spell on Merseyside appearing closer than ever, Salah's form has been superb this season, scoring 12 goals and set up a further 10 for teammates across competitions.

And, speaking ahead of Liverpool's Champions League clash with reigning European champions Real Madrid at Anfield on Wednesday, manager Slot paid tribute to the attacker's focus despite the constant background noise over his future.

“I don't think he's distracted at all,” said the Dutch coach, whose team take on reigning Premier League champions Manchester City four days after facing their La Liga equivalent at Anfield.

“I haven't seen that after the [Manchester] United game where he had some comments, I haven't seen it after a post you told me about, he just kept on scoring. I haven't seen anything today, he is just fully focused on the game tomorrow.

“If you would have been at the AXA [training ground] today, I don't think any player spoke about it, at least not when I was there. Players are focused on the short-term and that is Madrid and that is City.

“By the time Mo's contract is extended, players don't look at it that way. There is no distraction for him, the players and definitely not for me.”

Salah's teammate Andrew Robertson was similarly supportive when asked about Salah, who remains closely linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League.

“All I can say is you look at Mo today, you look at Mo yesterday and he is the ultimate professional,” said the Scotland full-back.

“It is the same for all three of them, Mo, Virgil [van Dijk] and Trent [Alexander-Arnold] who are all in similar positions – every one of them is focused on the next game and training and preparing properly.

“They have been leaders this year. They aren't getting distracted and we are excited for the game tomorrow night.”

When asked if Salah was showing any adverse affects from the doubts about his future, Robertson added: “He didn't look sad to me. Mo comes into training every day with a smile on his face. He is in the gym working as hard as ever and on the training pitch working as hard as ever.

“In terms of that, he's one of the happiest people at the training ground. If you can find me a picture where he looks sad then fair enough but I think he looks happy at all times.

“He's such a focused individual that he will be focused on tomorrow night. That's what all good players do, that's what the best in the world do and he certainly falls into that category.”

Liverpool go into Wednesday's match at Anfield top of the Champions League having won all four of their matches so far, the only perfect record left out of all 36 teams.

Real are down in 18th place, having won two and lost two of the games, but enjoyed a 3-0 victory over Leganes at the weekend that closed the gap on La Liga-topping Barcelona to four points.

And Slot knows taking on the 15-time European champions will be a major test of his team's credentials after an impressive start to the campaign that sees Liverpool top of the league domestically and in Europe.

“It is a very difficult thing [to beat Real] not only for Liverpool but every club that has played them in Europe because they can win in so many different styles and so many different ways,” said Slot, who revealed that right-back Alexander-Arnold is in the squad but will not be available to start.

“That's why they have won the competition so many times because they can win and be really dominant but if it's a difficult game they always find a way to win or go to the next round and that's what makes them special.”